The Musings of an Enthusiast for Technology, Education, and Food

Tag: Italy

Today was a day of planes, trains, and automobiles! (Ironically, in reverse order. Also, with some buses for added flavor!)

Our morning began at 6:45, when we left Gocce Di Capri in a van driven by our host, Marco. A short time later, we were departing the Sorrento train station for Naples. From Naples we caught another train to Casserta, where we had a quick coffee and sandwich break at the railway cafe. Then, another train took us to Bari.

We spent some time in Bari walking around, looking at the sea, and enjoying our final bites of Italian pizza and gelato. I also met an Italian pug. (Pugs always have great names, and this one, Carolina, was no exception.)

We finally boarded the shuttle to the Bari airport and made it with plenty of time to spare. We chatted with some of the flight attendants as we were being seated, and got moved to extremely spacious exit row seats! (A little extra politeness and smiles always pay off somehow!)

We woke up to another sunny day, complete with a gorgeous view of Capri.

After admiring the view over a breakfast of eggs and croissants on our deck again, we decided to go exploring to try and find a beach. Our host, Marco, gave us some instructions, but we ended up following a different path that led to the beautiful Punta Della Companella, a cliffside lighthouse and abandoned military lookout post. The path was amazingly picturesque, with the waves crashing into the cliffs far below us, and the lush flora changing from olive trees and bamboo to cacti as we got closer to the sea. The view when we finally made it to the Punta Della Campanella was absolutely breathtaking.

The wind was rushing around us, the waves were crashing down below, and the abandoned, but preserved, lookout was stuck in time. Beautiful can only begin to describe it. Even the pictures (worth a thousand words…?) can only capture so much. It was truly amazing.

We finally made it back home after a long walk back up the cliffs. I made us a dinner of pasta and bread, and we enjoyed another sunset. All in all, another good day. Pictures below, per usual.

After a long train ride from Naples to Sorrento, we had to make it from the Sorrento train station up to our hotel. Unfortunately for us, the bus was not running after 6 PM. And it was POURING. Fortunately though, a can driver took us up and even gave us a bit of a discount off of the labeled fare because we were students and he understood “what a student budget is like!” We were then met by our amazing host, Marco, who explained the area and even directed us to the only open local grocery and restaurant.

We made it into our apartment, set our stuff down, and walked ten minutes on a pitch black road to the small town of Termini. We picked up a few essentials from the small grocer and made our way to the restaurant.

The restaurant was a small, family-run place. How small? They didn't have a menu. Instead, the owner came to our table, gave us a basket of bread, and asked us a few questions about what we felt like eating and how much we felt like spending. (In, of course, a mixture of Italian and English, with a small touch of pantomiming involved.) We ended up getting some amazing spaghetti with a simple tomato sauce. It was incredible. The pasta was so fresh and perfectly al dente. The sauce was simple, but immeasurably perfect. It was homemade Italian food, and definitely one of our best meals here. The restaurant was a local hangout, with some regulars sharing drinks on the patio and some young men in the back room watching a soccer football match.

After our meal, we trudged home in the pouring rain and fell asleep after some chatting.

We woke up this morning to an amazing view.

The island off in the distance is Capri. We are literally on the top of a cliff, overlooking the coast. It's beautiful.

After spending some time admiring the extraordinary view from our balcony, we made a light breakfast of eggs and croissants. We needed to get some groceries and hit an ATM, so Marco directed us to the nearest town with an ATM… five kilometers away. Also, there were no buses, as it was All Saints Day. Luckily, it was a beautiful day, so we began hiking down the trail.

It was amazing to see the cliffs and all of the extraordinary views. Olive trees lined the road and we could see the waves crashing down on the shore. It was an amazing way to spend the day, and we loved the Italian air and sea.

After our long walk, we enjoyed watching the sunset and the coast of Capri light up.

For dinner, we returned to the same small Italian restaurant. I had ravioli, homemade and delicious!

As I write this post, I am sitting in an Italian train carriage. The countryside is whipping by outside as the train speeds along towards Naples. I can see the endless vineyards, dotted with little villas, a splash of golden orange against the greens and grays. We are en route to our final city of the voyage, Sorrento, just south of Naples. It promises to be quite fun, especially if the weather cooperates. We have a four person apartment with a terrace overlooking the sea.

This morning, we awoke, got ready, ate the hotel breakfast of coffee and pastries, and headed for the train station. We then deposited our bags in a holding area, caught a subway train to near Vatican City, and walked to St. Peter's Square. We had expected to not encounter much of a wait, (this being a Wednesday morning in late October…) but there was a pretty long line to get in. We waited to enter the square and upon our entry, we immediately realized why the crowd was so massive today; the Pope was giving a speech!

We explored the square, took some photos, and marveled at the massive crowds and immense structures. Though we only had a short time, it was well worth seeing and we were pleasantly surprised to get to see the Pope speak. (This did, however, mean that the Basilica was closed to us, but that just means I will have to visit again someday soon.)

Rome wasn't built in a day, nor can it be seen in just two, but we really enjoyed seeing the parts we did. We saw the Coliseum, we saw the Pope, and we managed to see countless other ancient buildings. All in all, a pretty amazing city. Onwards to relaxation! Pictures below, per usual.

After a small breakfast at the hotel, we ventured into central Rome. Our first visit was the Severan Complex of Roman ruins. (These are a massive complex of ruins, gardens, paths, and more.) After a few hours of hiking around, taking pictures of the various ruins and the nearby Coliseum, and listening in on tours, we were pretty famished.

We had a nice, relaxed dinner at a small restaurant a few blocks away from the ruins. After the ravioli-recharge, I felt great and ready to see some more of Rome. We continued our adventure around the city. We saw tons of amazing sites, from the Pantheon, to the Piazza Navona, to the Piazza del Popolo.

Finally exhausted, we returned home to rest and rise again tomorrow. We plan to see the Vatican and then venture onward to our final city of the trip, Sorrento.

Today was quite an adventure-filled day! (Also, the sun came out for the first time, which felt incredibly nice after long days of rain.)

We started out enjoying the leather markets of Florence, which were vast and filled with tons of amazing items. I ended up getting a wallet and a belt, and even managed to get the belt customized to my waist. Another great find? I met an artist who did engravings of the city and picked out a beautiful print similar to the one in the picture set below. He matted and signed the print and even packaged it nicely for me.

After the market, we took a bus to the Piazza Michelangelo. It was absolutely breathtaking to see the amazing view. (Dad, you were right. It was one of the best things I've ever seen.) We took tons of photos, admired the view, and relished the sunshine.

Post-Piazza, we ventured back to the train station and caught our train to Rome. After a good amount of walking, we finally reached the hotel. We checked in, ate a small dinner at a nearby restaurant, and have crashed back at home. We will see tons of Rome tomorrow!

We adventured all around Florence, eating good food and seeing amazing art, including Michelangelo's David in the Academia and Donatello's David in the city squares. Another great find was the Medici palace. It was a fantastic lens into the past, and we recognized many of the artworks inside from our art history course on 14th Century Art From Florence to Flanders. Professor Nuttall, if you are reading this, be proud; we felt so knowledgable thanks to your course! We also saw the Duomo and tons of other fantastic buildings!

Tomorrow is another awesome day, with a visit to the Plaza Michelangelo (per the recommendation of the best dad ever, Bomi Mistry) and some leather markets in Florence. Also, as always, good food and plenty of photography.

In the evening, we will head to Rome! Stay tuned!

As usual, some pictures below…

Medici Palace Courtyard

I blend in…

Fantastic artwork in the Medici Palace

Amazing Room in the Medici Palace

Yet another amazing room in the Medici Palace

Madonna Di Filippo Lippi (Master to Botticelli)

Another courtyardin the Medici Palace

Duomo

Another View

Lunch stop- takeaway pasta or pizza for €5!

Lunch: Tortellini con Prosciutto

Square

Square

Donatello's David

Michelangelo's David (the original in the Academia, not the copy in the square.)

Guardian Lion

River near sunset

Coffee break… (Note the subtle touch with the artistic leaf in the cream. Very nice.)

We woke up, got ready, and checked out of the hotel. We then made our way to the train station, put our bags in storage, and headed into the main city again.

After a night of rain and a particularly high tide, the streets were flooded! Luckily,pumping efforts were underway and raised platform walkways had been placed out. Unfortunately, San Marco's square was completely underwater by the time we got there, so we had to take a lunch break while the square was drained…

Luckily, a short while later, it was drained and all was well! We adventured through the square, saw gondolas and more glass shops, and even had some more gelato! (I can almost hear the gasps of surprise at that last one…)

Eventually, we made our way back to the train station, had some coffee at a nearby cafe, and boarded the train to Florence. In Florence, we set up base at the hotel, I ate some amazing gnocchi (with Gorgonzola cheese and pine nuts) and sausage pizza, we walked to the riverbank, and I even got a tiny cannoli to sweeten my taste buds.

We left the flat at two in the morning, hopped on a bus to Liverpool Street, hopped on another bus to Stansted Airport, made it through security and massive lines, and got on the flight.

A few hours later, we landed and walked off the plane into Venice. A short bus ride took us to a station near our hotel and we trekked over to the hotel. We checked in, and the owner gave us a ton of information on how to get into the main, most interesting parts of Venice. After checking in, we took a much needed nap.

Post-nap, we set out on our adventures in Venice. It was a drizzly day that devolved into a downpour, which was a bit of a letdown weather wise, but we had a great time anyway. We had some authentic (and amazing) Italian espresso, freshly brewed and with a bit of decadent frothed cream.

My Magnificent Caffè Macchiato

We continued to walks around, exploring Venice. We found countless amazing pieces of glasswork from Murano and other small amazing things. We scurried from shop to shop, flitting between the awnings as the rain poured down.

Eventually, we found a really reasonable and tasty restaurant to eat a late lunch/early dinner. I ordered some Gnocchi alla Bolognese and we also shared some pizza. Both were absolutely heavenly. The pizza was delicate, with thin crust, a subtle tomato sauce, and a crispy-but-not-burnt crust. The gnocchi were so freshly made and were complemented by the small amount of meat in the sauce. One thing that really struck us was the portion sizes and the style of cooking. The portions were just big enough and the flavoring was just enough to add a subtle note to each dish. Truly great cooking involves taking the simplest ingredients and letting them shine. I love the Italian style of cooking for its focus on this simplicity and on the love of food inherent in the culture.

P-I-Z-Z-A

Nom-Nom Gnocchi

Post- dinner, we were all hit by a sweet tooth craving and elected to find a gelato stand. Luckily, the Italians love their gelato and this stand looked pretty awesome. We tried a few flavors, I finally opted to get a small with chocolate chip as one flavor and tiramisu as the other. It was amazing.

Gelato Generates Good Feelings

After gelato, we continued to shop, it continued to rain, but we decided to enjoy it! We walked through the streets, and saw all sorts of amazing people along the way. Everything went off without a hitch. The adventure continues tomorrow. Half in Venice, and then moving onto Florence.